Ambush
by Juicy Pear
Summary: Based on Catching Fire. What if Haymitch had been sent to the Quarter Quell with Katniss instead? What if there had been no uprising, only a fragile alliance between the pair and the hope that one of them might make it back home to District 12? What if everything had gone completely different? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Peering between the branches I catch a glimpse of the careers forcing a path towards our fire. I signal down to Haymitch to get ready. He nods and crouches low, gripping a blade in each hand.

I lose sight of the group as they begin to draw near so I nock an arrow and wait. Haymitch, being lower, hears them before I do and launches himself at the first career through the undergrowth. A canon fires before I even see who it was and I let loose an arrow at the next one through: Enobaria. She is caught off guard by the ambush, but the sight of Haymitch must tell her to expect me because she immediately drops to the ground, causing my arrow to just miss her. I nock another arrow and take aim but she's seen me and positions herself so that the fighting Haymitch is between us. I curse and shoot instead at Brutus, who is trying to join Gloss, in attacking Haymitch. He does not see me and goes down easily. Another canon is fired followed by another as Haymitch disarms then stabs Gloss twice.

At that point Haymitch collapses and I notice a long gash in his side. _When did that happen?_ I try to think what to do as I look around for Enobaria then scramble out of the tree. She must have taken off when things started looking bad, but she had caused enough damage. This must have happened while I was busy trying to take her out, while I was too distracted to keep an eye on Haymitch.

"Haymitch!" I exclaim as I drop out of the tree and rush to his side. "Haymitch, I'm so sorry!" I try to peel back the fabric sticking to his wound but do not know what to make of it. The cut is too close to too many vital organs for me to be sure he will be okay, and even if the knife that did this did happen to miss Haymitch's already weakened liver he is still going to need stitches.

I begin to panic as it dawns on me how late in the game we are, much too late for Peeta to send us anything even if he wanted to. Haymitch is just going to have to hold out until the end… but then what? There were only four of us left now: me, Haymitch, Enobaria, and Finnick. We all know only one of us is getting out of this arena alive, we cannot expect another fluke like last year to help us. But splitting up now, with him in this condition?

I exhale and roll Haymitch's wetsuit back down over his wound, hoping it might work to slow the flow of blood. What else can I do? I want to tell him he is going to be okay, but this is Haymitch. Instead I ask, "How bad is it?"

He smirks and answers, "I'll live."

I nod in response and am about to help him up when a look crosses his face and he yanks me back beside him. "Haymitch, what are you-?" My words are sharply cut off when he pulls out a knife and holds it to my throat.

"Sorry Sweetheart, you and I both know one of us is going to have to stay in this arena, and it's not going to be me."

**Woah! Haymitch attacking Katniss? This author has to be crazy right? Stick around for chapter two to find out!**

**Please review! :)  
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	2. Chapter 2

I don't speak. I can't speak. Is Haymitch serious? Is he really going to kill me? We could have just gone our separate ways if he wanted, but maybe now that he is injured and the little competition that remains have such an obvious advantage, maybe now he sees me as a threat too big to leave unattended. Still, even with me out of the picture he has to kill both Enobaria and Finnick. "You won't win," I say, "You need me if you want to get Enobaria and Finnick. Without me you don't stand a chance."

"Maybe, but when will I ever get this opportunity again?" That is when Haymitch loosens his grip on my arm, freeing me, but still holds the knife pressed against my skin. I am confused, but I don't pull away. He has to be planning something so I stay where I am and see Haymitch's gaze shift down to the bow I placed at my side when I began examining his wound then to the arrow that missed Enobaria lodged not a foot away from us. I am still confused but begin to reach for my bow when there is a sudden SNAP from behind me. Haymitch drops the knife and rolls away as I immediately grab both the bow and arrow and fire.

It is a few seconds before the canon goes off and I let out a breath of relief. I cross over to where Haymitch lies and help him stand, supporting much of his weight. "Who was it?" I ask.

"Odair," Haymitch grunts, holding his side. "I figured our only chance of not getting speared was if he thought he was going to have one less of us to deal with by waiting."

I nod but don't say anything. All I can think about now is that there are only three of us left, and unlike last time there will be no exceptions. There can only be one victor.

**I am REALLY sorry Finnick fans! As much as I would've like to let him win the Quarter Quell, I'd be short a narrator. Anyway, I hope you liked this very short "what if" FanFiction regardless. Please review and I welcome other ideas and suggestions though I may not change what has been written here since I came up with the idea for this story a long time ago. Thank you all for reading! Also, thank you my two beta readers. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here it is! The highly anticipated next chapter I was peer pressured into writing! Enjoy!**

**(It has been a while since I've read this book so please excuse any minor setting issues. You can PM me and I'll update with corrections.)**

We camp in the heart of the jungle, far away from the site of the ambush where so many tributes died today. I hastily make two beds out of the large nearby leaves and help Haymitch down onto one of them. "We should be safe here for now," I say. There's been so much death today in the arena the game makers will probably leave us alone for at least the night. Enobaria, on the other hand, is a different matter entirely, "I can watch for tonight. You rest."

"Katniss-" Haymitch starts.

"No. You need to heal Haymitch." He was a pain enough to deal with without that injury slowing him down.

He smiles over at me, almost like he knows what I am thinking. "Katniss, we need to separate."

I knew this was coming. We should have separated a long time before now, but now that Haymitch is injured how different would separating be from killing him myself? _From what Cato did to Peeta_ I am reminded and shudder. I cannot, I will not leave Haymitch to die like that. "No. Not yet," I insist. "The game makers won't do anything to us tonight, not with all that happened earlier. We'll be fine to rest now and talk about this in the morning."

Haymitch grunts, not exactly agreeing but too weak to object very firmly. I sit in the middle of my bed of leaves, placing my sheath of arrows next to me, and the nation's anthem begins to play. Haymitch lies back and exhales heavily. We look up and watch the faces of all the dead tributes flash by, confirming that it truly is just the three of us left in this arena. After the anthem ends, the sky returns to its regular artificial darkness and Haymitch rolls over, his back to me. I hug my legs close and prepare myself for a long shift on watch duty.

Several hours later the bell-like sounds ring out again as they have every night that we have been in this arena: twelve _Bong_ sounds. Haymitch shifts besides me but continues snoring a second later. _What does it mean?_ I keep feeling like we are close to something, to solving some sort of mystery surrounding this arena that could help us, but I still do not know what. Then, just like every night, right as the ringing stops lightning strikes in the distance. It looks as though the lightning is even striking in the same place as the night before, but it is too hard to tell with all the moving around we have done today. I watch and listen with difficulty as a lightning storm rages on the other side of the arena from us. It stays in its area though, just like the rain that follows a while later, sounding maybe a little closer to where we are. I load my bow. I am on edge for some reason, we have never spent the night on this side of the arena and now for some reason, besides the ruthless killer I know is after both of our lives and the bloodthirsty game makers and audience who would like nothing more than to assist her, I feel unsafe here.

The rain stops and I breathe deeply, trying to remain calm. Something is coming. That is when I start to see a thin layer of fog creep in from around the trees. I have been in this arena long enough to know not to trust it. I shake Haymitch. "Haymitch. Haymitch! Get up!"

He jerks awake, hand already gripping his knife before he takes in the strange mist. "This is-?"

"It just started all of a sudden. I think it's a- "The fog reaches us then and begins to burn my skin. I examine my hands which are breaking out in blisters and it has already become difficult to breathe. "We need to get out of here!" I gasp.

Haymitch doesn't say anything but runs after me as I bolt through the thick foliage, clasping my bow. I can hear him stumbling behind me, but he is beginning to slow down. "Haymitch hurry up!" I am choking on every breath, my steps are becoming slow now too as the poison sets in and my limbs are growing more and more heavy, but I stop and turn to see where he is. I see him. He is a ways behind me and staggering like he used to when he was drunk, only I catch the look in his eyes, alert and panicked. He isn't going to make it.

"Haymitch!" I choke out and lumber towards him, determined not to lose him. My mentor. My friend.

He sees me coming through the fog, doubling back in an attempt to drag him out to safety. He knows I will not leave him. My friend. "No!" He shouts gruffly. "Leave me!" Haymitch reaches for his knife then holds it out at me, threatening me. "Leave me," he says, his eyes pleading.

I just stand there, my limbs growing heavier with every second that passes, knowing that I am going to have to. I would not be able to save Haymitch even if he was willing to come with me, but I still cannot bring myself to leave him.

"Go!" He finally orders and I do. I take a few shaky steps back at first, watching him sink down to the earth before I run with all the speed my body has left away from the mist, eventually finding the surf.

**Thank you all for pushing me to keep writing! PLEASE REVIEW!  
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	4. Chapter 4

**This is it! The final chapter. I'm sorry it began so late in Catching Fire. If I could redo this whole thing I may have started it earlier, but then again I may not have gotten this far so… who knows? Anyway, I'll stop talking now. Enjoy!**

The canon rings out right as I splash into the sea and collapse face first beneath the waves. The salt immediately burns my body: my arms, my legs, my face, everywhere the mist touched. I rise up and cry out, a loud guttural scream, less from the pain and more from the enormity of what I had done. I left Haymitch after all. I left him to die. I squeeze my eyes shut and let the pain from the sea distract me. I can feel the poison beginning to seep out of my pores, but the process is slow and excruciating. Good. Anything to stop me from thinking about what I have just done, what the Capitol has just done. I look down at my mottled and disfigured limbs and see a steady stream of murky liquid leaving them. The blisters slowly shrink in size and I sink deeper into the water, down to my neck.

I stay in the water until I can no longer feel any pain from the mist, the only evidence of its existence remaining are the marks dotting my skin and the void left by Haymitch's absence. I drag myself onto the sand near my bow just as the artificial sky begins to lighten to a pale blue and I wait. I am tired but it is too dangerous to sleep now, not with it only being me and Enobaria left. She would have heard the canon; she will be searching for one of us today. I will be ready. I know that I have to win.

I am not waiting long. I spot Enobaria emerging from the cornucopia at dawn and I rise slowly to my feet. I hold my bow firmly in one hand and reach behind me, instinctively grasping for an arrow from my sheath, only I left the sheath of arrows behind on the bed of leaves when the fog began to set in. My hands drop to my side and I take a step back. She has not seen me yet. I could retreat and come back now that I know where she is hiding, but I do not know exactly where Haymitch and I had set up camp. _And_, I think, _I don't want to go back in there. Not yet_. I glance around for another option when I see one arrow sitting in the sand a few yards away from me. She still has not noticed me. I hurry to pick it up, remembering how I had loaded it into my bow when the rain had stopped. I must have brought this arrow with me when I ran then.

I load the arrow into my bow again and turn, raising it in anticipation of my final kill, but Enobaria is gone. I look around, frantic. Did she see me? Does she know I'm here? I grimace and clasp both the bow and arrow in my right hand, readying myself to go after her. I have to. I rush into the ocean again and swim towards the cornucopia, all the while watching for Enobaria from all sides. Once I get there I reload my bow and sidle towards the tail of the cornucopia, trying to keep my back to it as I peek around the other side. She's not there. Is it possible she went back inside? _Could I be that lucky?_ I start to sneak around the other side towards the mouth of the big horn when I hear a slight shuffling sound behind me. I duck and roll just in time to avoid being stabbed in the neck by Enobaria's knife. It was a trick after all. I rise up on one knee to shoot her, but she is too fast and she dives at me, flashing me her muttated grin. I fall to my side, losing my grip on both the bow and arrow which she kicks out of reach before striking again. I roll to avoid the blow, tossing up clouds of sand in her face while staggering to my feet. She snarls savagely and reaches for my legs with her free hand but falls short. She then lunges for me with her blade. I scream as the knife sticks in my calf and I fall. She's on me in a second, abandoning the weapon in favor of her trademark method of murder. "Goodbye Katniss," she hisses from atop my back. "It's been fun."

She leans in toward my neck and I try to push myself up to no avail. It is no use; my hands cannot find purchase on the sand and I am not strong enough to topple her anyway. Enobaria has won.

Just as I am thinking this, I see it: the one thing that can save me. I feel Enobaria's sharp teeth press against my skin and I reach out and grab the arrow. It has broken in half from when Enobaria tried to kick it away before, leaving just the half with the tail here. My fingers close around it. Enobaria's teeth lock around the side of my throat. I don't hesitate, I lift and bring the sharp stick down on the back of Enobaria's neck with as much force as I can, the only place I can reach with certainty. She screams and releases me, sitting up and putting less pressure on me so I am able to roll and kick her off. She falls back and I stare at her. The arrow shaft is buried deep in Enobaria's neck and blood is freely flowing from the wound. I mechanically reach up to my own neck and feel the little grooves left in my skin by her teeth. That could have been either one of us a few seconds ago. She just stares at me wide-eyed now, her screams choked off by the blood building up and spilling out of her mouth. Eventually she falls back, unable to support herself and lands in the sea, turning the water directly around her body a dark crimson. I look away.

_BOOM_. There, that's it, the final canon. I take a shaky breath. I have done it. I have won. I can go home. I want to believe that once I do everything can go back to normal; everything can go back to the way it used to be before all of this. But I know better. If I have learned anything from the tributes of the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games, it's that nothing ever goes back to normal. These games will follow me for the rest of my days. Every waking hour, minute, will be plagued by the faces of those fallen around me, and every year I will have to assist with the addition of more murders. Nothing will ever be the same again.

_Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present to you the victor of the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen from District Twelve!_

**Thank you so much for reading! Thank you for your kind reviews, follows, and favorites! I'd also like to thank my three content reviewers/ beta readers: my_forgotten_rose, SweetXWhisper, and truebluebutterfly. You guys are ****all**** awesome and made this very fun (in a horrifying, I-can't-believe-I-wrote-that sort of way). :)**


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